Electrode holder



Feb. 21, 1939. B. -Y'ETTNER 2,148,095

ELECTRODE HOLDER Filed Jan. l5, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l 42 ff S 4 r -l m SP HQ l #i 4: l{V/W/////////////////Mfu A TTORN E YS.

I ..50 Ilmlllmwz Feb. 21, 1939. B. YETTNER ELECTRODE HOLDER E Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. l5, 1938 K elvnandllifnen INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,148,095 VELro'rRonr; HOLDER Bernard Yettner, San Francisco, Calif. Application January 15, 1938, Serial No. 185,216

' 2 claims.` (ci. 21e-s) This invention aims to provide novel means for holding conveniently, an electrode of thekind used in welding. The invention has for one of its objects, the supplying of novel means for actuating the member'which grips the electrode. Another object of the invention is to supply a device which, as to general contour, may be held in the hand conveniently, likeva pistol, thereby facilitating the welding in difllcult places and relieving the wrist from strain.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide novel means whereby the electrode may be retained in alinement with the axis of the'holder, or at adjusted angles with respect to said axis, at the will of an operator.

It is within the'gprovince of the disclosure to I improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.`

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrange.

ment of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 shows in longitudinal section, a device constructed inaccordance with the invention;

Fig- 2 is a top plan of the structure shown in Fig- 1;

Fig. 3 is a. longitudinal section like Fig. l, aside from the fact that the electrode holder has been retracted to working and holdingvposition Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are sections taken, respectively, on the lines 4 4, 5 5, 6 6, 1 1 and 8 8 of Fig. 3.

In carrying out the invention there is shown, as depicted in Figs. 1 and 3, for instance, a pistolshaped body including a barrel I and a grip 2, the barrel and the grip made up of material which will resist heat, and at the same time be an 'insulator against the passage of electricity. i

The body I and the grip 2 are divided along a longitudinal plane 3, to form laterally separable parts, the barrel I including an extension 4 which projects backwardly with respect to the grip 2.

'I'he constituent parts of the body are held together by a. securing element 5 connecting the parts of the grip 2, and by a cap 6 -which is threaded on the rear end the barrel I. an insulating disk 'I being interposed and the arm of the workman heating. The lower end ,a rack 23,

of the' extension 4 of between the cap 6 and the end of the extension 4. The parts of the barrel I may be held together adjacent to their forward ends by a ring 8, adapted to be slipped over the forward end of the barrel. In the forward end of the barrel there are longitudinal slots 9 lying partly in each half of the barrel, as Fig. 2 will show. In the barrel I, openings I0 are formed. The openings I0 afford adequate ventilation and avoid overof the grip 2 also is supplied with Ventilating openings Il, as Figs. 7 and 6,will show.

In the barrel I, behind the slots 9, is disposed a forward guide ring I2, an intermediate guide and abutment ring I4 being located in the barrel, behind the forward ring I2, and a rear guide ring I5 being located in the rear portion of the barrel I, adjacent to the grip 2. The guide rings i2, I4 and I5 may be mounted in internal seats I6 in the barrel I, and, as shown in Fig. 4, the said rings may be divided diametrically, as indicated at I'I, into halves. I

The numeral I8 marks a trigger extended throughan opening I9 formed in the grip 2 and in the adjacent portion of the barrel I, as depicted in Figs. 1 and 5, for instance. The trigger carries at its inner end a segment 2I disposed in the upper part of the grip 2 and in the adjacent portion of the barrel I.` The trigger I8 and its segment 2| are-made out of material which is an barrel I and the grip 2. The trigger I8 is mounted to swing on a pivot element 20. The pivot element 26 '(Fig. 5) is held against endwise move` ment within the constituent parts of the grip 2 and, preferably, doesl not extend to the outside of the grip.

A slide rod or electrode holder, generally made of copper, and marked by the numeral 22, is mounted for longitudinal reciprocation in the guide rings I5, I4 and I2. The electrode holder 22 may be of circular cross section, and in order to prevent it from rotating, the electrode vholder has parallel flattened surfaces 30 at its rear end, received in a correspondingly shapedopening 3I in the 'rear guide ring I5, the rear guide ring I I5, the intermediate ring I4 and the forward ring I2 preferably being electrode holder or slide formed of metal.l The rod 22 is supplied with wherewith the segment 2| on the trigger I8 engages.

Intermediate its ends, the electrode holder 22 is supplied with an annular rib`24, which slides in the b arrel I, and also hasanother function,

in that'it constitutes an abutment for the rear 55 At its forward end, the electrode homer 22 has a bre 50 and the electrode holder is slotted longitudinally at itsforward end as indicated at 32, to form resilient gripping jaws 2S adapted to engage and hold an electrode 33 in the bore 5G. The inner surfaces of the jaws 2% have a plurality slots 9 of the barrel l and disposed at diierent angles with respect to the axis of the holder 22.

A flexible conductor 2l, which may be attened .in cross section, is connected at its upper end to the electrode holder 22. The conductor 2l extends downwardly within the grip 2 and -is connected to a socket 28 on the lower wall of the grip 2, a conductor 29 being engaged with the socket 28 and being in electrical ,en-l

gagement with the conductor 2l.

fReferring to Fig. 3, the spring 25 slides the electrode holder 22 backwardly, until the rear end of the electrode holder is engaged with the insulating washer i within the cap '5. The jaws 2S of the electrode holder, cooperating with the rings ld and l2, and especially with the ring i2, cause the jaws to grip the electrode 33 and hold it in the bore 50.

Referring to Fig. l, the operaton'can press the trigger i8 backwardly, whereupon the segment 2l of the trigger, lcooperating with the rack 23 on the electrode holder 22, willadvance the electrode holder, the spring 25 being additionally compressed. When the electrode holder 22 is advanced, the jaws 25 loosen their grip on the electrode' 33, and the electrode maybe removed or adjusted longitudinally in the bore 59:

' or if the operator prefers, he may place the electrode in any of the seats 5l in the jaws 26 of the holder 22, the electrode then being disposed at adjusted angles to the axis of the holder 22 and being adapted for work, especially inside work, on which the electrode could not be used conveniently if placed in the bore 56, in axial alinement with the holder 22.

When the trigger l is released, the parts assume the position of Fig. 3, under the impulse of the spring 25, the electrode 33 entering the slots 9 of the barrel l, if the electrode is `disposed in the dotted positions of Fig. l, the article being ready for use.

The general construction of the device yis such that the electrode 33 may be manipulated and adjusted readily, it being possible for an operator to hold the entire structure in such position that work of practically any sort may beA caro groovesor seats 5i alined with theand means for holding said parts andadas ried out conveniently, even though the work :may be in a position in which the work would be inaccessible if a used. The strain onthe arm of the operator is reduced greatly, fatigue is avoided, and-a more accurate welding results, with less` labor than has been called for heretofore.

Having thus described the invention, claimed is:

1.1n a welding tool, a pistol-shaped body comprising a barrel and a grip disposed at an angle to the barrel, the body being divided longitudinally to form laterally separable parts, together, the barrel being provided with internal annular seats, a forward guide ring, an intermediate guide ring and the seats, an electrode holder mounted to reciprocate in the rings and spaced thereby from the lbarrel, the barrel having Ventilating perforations communicating with the space between the what is dierent sort of tool were a rear guide ring mounted in holder and the barrel, the grip having ventilatsurrounding the holder and engaging the abutment and the intermediate ring, to retract the holder and cause it to grip an electrode, and means on the body and accessible from the grip for advancing the holder to cause it to release an electrode, the last specified means being under the control of an operator.

2. In a welding tool, a pistol-shaped body comprising a barrel and a grip disposed at an angle to the barrel, the body being divided 1ongitudinally to form laterally separable members, the barrel being provided at its forward end with upper and lower slots located partly in each member of the barrel, means for holding the members of the body together, said means comprising a cap on the rear end of the barrel, an electrode holder mounted to reciprocate in the barrel, the holder having in its forward end a slot dening resilient gripping jaws,'means for retaining the holder against rotation, thereby to align the slot of the holder with the slots :of the barrel, the inner surfaces of the jaws having transverse seats, spring means for retracting the holder to cause an electrode in lthe seats to enter the slots of the barrel, the cap forming a stop limiting the retraction of the holder, and means accessible from the grip for advancing the holder to release the jaws from an electrode.

BERNARD YE'TTNER. 

